Carthago non delenda est

[Nicole]

The Third Punic War was started by Rome out of paranoia of Carthage, which went to massive levels. A reduced power that was a shadow of it's former self and willing to do anything to prevent Roman invasion (except for destroying their city and building a new one inland)... However, the Romans invaded the city and destroyed it.

Now, what if the Romans had made it clear in the post-Second Punic War treaty that it was to be permanent (rather than expiring when the debt was paid as Carthage assumed), or accepted one of the attempts by Carthage to make peace? How long could the rump Carthage be independent? What would be the effects of a subordinate Carthage rather than a Province of Africa in the lead-up to the Roman Epire?

 

[Smaug]

I'm very fond of Carthaginian questions...I'd like to see them colonizing West Africa, and maybe someone running from a storm crashing into Brazil.

I've always liked Carthage, it was all about economics to them. Rome looted, Carthage traded.

 

[Soyuz]

Assuming the POD is after the 2nd Punic, just as you've yourself has stated, we are left with the Roman fear of Carthage. The only way I can think of of avoiding it is by distracting the Romans with bigger adversaries. Have a great leader be born in Gaul or Macedonia that would unify their tribes/countries and give Rome pain so they don't have the time to pay attention to Carthage. So, to answer the question, with such a late POD, it will be ineviteably conquered, but only when Rome has free time on their hands and the politicians want to score points with the population for crushing a "dangerous" enemy.

 

[Max Sinister]

Yep. If you want to make times for Rome really hard, have the Huns or a similar people invade Europe and start the völkerwanderung some centuries earlier. Or have a volcano explode, changing the climate in Scandinavia, with similar results.

 

[Tizoc]

Hmm. Seleucids to the rescue?
Or assume that there was a great chiefman in... Pannonia around 200-170 BC, who united it whole and went on expanding his empire - it would be quite possible, if somehow the gold mines in Dacia and today's Slovakia were discovered then...

 

[HueyLong]

Actually, thats an interesting idea. Do you have any info on what type of tech was needed for those mines?

 

[Tizoc]

Actually, thats an interesting idea. Do you have any info on what type of tech was needed for those mines?

Nothing fancy - no deep mine cultivation before Roman times (2nd-3rd century AD), extraction of gold only from rivers’ sands and valleys AFAIK - that's about Dacia; about Slovakia, they started mining there in Middle Ages, but they had to dive quite deep into the ground, I believe...